Jonathan Ross, whose £16.9m contract had become one of the BBC's most toxic political issues, will walk away from his shows after admitting today: "I think it's not a bad time for me to move on. It's possibly not a bad time for them either."

The man who became a hate figure for critics of the BBC, surprised the media world by announcing he would not be looking to renew his contract which covers a film review show, a Saturday Radio 2 slot and his Friday night chatshow.

Ross's three-year contract expires in July and formal negotiations had not begun on a new one. The 49-year-old admitted he "would have liked" to stay but a series of high-profile controversies made the BBC less willing to keep him.

The size of his contract – even if it did include production costs for his independent company – had become a turbulent issue for BBC bosses.

The BBC decided his Radio 2 show must be pre-recorded after he was accused of homophobia following a joke, in reference to Hannah Montana-themed prizes on his show, that: "If your son asks for a Hannah Montana MP3 player, you might want to already think about putting him down for adoption before he brings his … erm … partner home."

Jana Bennett, director of BBC Vision, said she "understood" why Ross had decided to leave. "Jonathan is an extremely talented broadcaster and his programmes have been a great success. However, it's been a difficult year and I understand why he feels it's the right thing to do."

But tellingly there was no such statement of regret from the director general Mark Thompson, for whom Ross had become a constant headache. The BBC is facing a tricky period, with both the Labour government and the Tories talking tough about its finances. There is rarely a discussion about finances which does not allude to the size of Ross's contract.

The presenter's biggest supporters at the corporation are no longer there: Peter Fincham, who was the BBC1 controller who signed him, is now at ITV, and the Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas took the fall for the Sachsgate affair.

Ross's camp had indicated before Christmas he was willing to take a substantial paycut. Graham Norton, who is a potential replacement for Ross in the Friday night chatshow slot, took a pay cut of his own earlier this week.

Ross said he had enjoyed a great 13 years at the BBC. "I would love to make more shows but I have got six months left and I am going to try and make the best shows of my career for them."

Earlier Ross said in his statement that he would continue to host the Baftas and other specials. He said: "Over the last two weeks I have decided not to renegotiate when my contract comes to an end. I would like to make it perfectly clear that no negotiations ever took place and that my decision is not financially motivated.

"I signed my current contract with the BBC having turned down more lucrative offers from other channels because it was where I wanted to be and – as I have said before – would happily have stayed there for any fee they cared to offer, but there were other considerations."

Ross's fellow BBC radio DJs said they had some sympathy with the presenter – but also that his departure was inevitable.

"I thought he was going to go but the timing has come as a surprise to me," said one network presenter. "The one thing you could be sure of was that whatever contract he signed it was going to be the most scrutinised contract in the history of employment law. You can't really blame him for not wanting to go through that."

Another BBC radio presenter said there was sympathy after the criticism and scrutiny Ross had endured since the Sachsgate row, particularly in the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday which broke the story. "I feel sorry for him. It's been ferocious."

Sources close to Ross said he has already had offers from US TV, as well as commercial channels in the UK, although a spokesman for ITV said that the broadcaster has not made any offers to Ross.